The Killers collect rarities, B-sides for new disc

Despite putting out two best-selling albums in three years and touring nonstop, the Killers’ front man Brandon Flowers feels lazy.

Blame it on Lou Reed, the veteran rocker who taught the band a new level of dedication when he worked on their new single, Tranquilize. The song appears on the Killers’ latest effort, Sawdust — a collection of rare recordings and B-sides, topped with a sprinkling of new songs, set to be released Nov. 13.

The Killers — guitarist David Keuning, bassist Mark Stoermer, drummer Ronnie Vannucci and Flowers on vocals and keyboards — have been on tour for the past year in support of Sam’s Town, the critically acclaimed followup to their 2004 debut, Hot Fuss.

Now Flowers, 26, is ready to make new music. He talks about making Sawdust.

Q: What inspired you to make a B-sides album?

A: It’s for our American fans. We don’t have the B-sides here. There was the argument that you can get them on the Internet, but it’s just kind of putting them all together. It’s also for our future fans.

Q: What was it like getting back into this old material?

A: We didn’t mess with much of it. There were a couple of songs that I was excited to fix because they made me cringe for five years. They weren’t all rerecorded but we touched a couple of them up, you know, reinforced. We’re better players. I’m a better singer now.

Q: There are a few new tracks on this album.

A: Yeah, but most of it was all done. There’s going to be 17 songs and they’re basically the B-sides except for a couple. There’s a song that we kind of promised in the past. It’s called Leave The Bourbon On The Shelf. It kind of goes together with two songs from the first album (Jenny Was A Friend Of Mine and Midnight Snow) and it tells a little story.